The Diamond Charm
by Scarlett Redd
Summary: Edward' story behind the heart-shaped charm he gave to Bella. Oneshot. Just my perspective on the story that might have been behind it.


Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. All pretty vampires and other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer! :)

Thanks SO much to Casey Hale for the beta. Go check her out, she's awesome!

As soon as I was alone, I bolted up to my room. The bed I had gotten for Bella looked untouched and crisp, Esme's doing, no doubt. My CD collection remained where it always had been, totally organized and neat. I quickly switched on the stereo, more of a habit than anything else. It was almost surprising. I must have heard the opening chords of the song a million times before. It was always the same, time after time. Insinuating that I was the exact same being as I was before Bella. Before my life had really begun.

I opened a drawer, where I kept all the possessions that matter the most to me. Mostly, my mother's possessions I had been able to keep. Some things of Bella's. Her self proclaimed 'junk' that I had taken from her when she wasn't looking. It was shameful, but worth it.

And there it was. The most prized possession of my mother's that I owned. I hadn't given it away. I never expected to. I remembered my mother wearing this everyday when I was a young boy. How her soft hands would flow over the ebony and ivory of the piano keys, making the smoothest and most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. How her wrists were taut and strong as the bracelet glinted off her wrist, and the dangling heart-shaped diamond had reflected rainbows. I remembered her noticing me staring at it in awe.

But most of all, I remembered her words.

"You see this heart Edward?" She had asked. I had nodded emphatically.

"Well. Someday, when you are all grown up, I am going to give you this. And you are going to give it to someone you love." She had said.

I had looked at her quizzically, and she had smiled softly at me. I hadn't said anything more about it, knowing, somehow, that I would understand when I was older, like so much else those days.

I never expected to do this. It was one of the only clear memories of my mother I had left. One of the moments we had shared, and something I had looked at over the decades. Something comforting. Something I could always come back to, always depend on the memory.

This is Bella. I had to remind myself. I knew I would associate it with every happy memory I had with my mother, every time it glinted from her wrist. Just like my mother, Bella had a beauty that everyone could see. From the way she smiled softly, or spoke in a gentle tone when trying not to upset anyone. When she doubtedherself, or blushed when she was embarrassed. It was Bella. She was my Bella. She deserved the world. And therefore, I would give her this charm.

I let it lay in my hand, contemplating. How much of a fit would Bella throw if I bought her a silver necklace for it to hang on?

But no. I wanted her to wear it from a bracelet. Like my mother. Besides, I needed to have a charm on that bracelet. I couldn't let to dog win like that...

Placing it in the upper drawer, along with the engagement ring, another keepsake of my mother's, I made my way downstairs, where Alice was waiting, as expected.

_EDWARD. OH MY GOD!_

"Alice." I groaned.

I really hadn't told my siblings about the charm. I could only assume she'd seen me in the drawer I never let anyone into...

_Edward! What is it? What did you pull out of that drawer? I've never seen that charm before... Was it your mother's? It must have been, it was in the drawer-_

"Alice!" I snapped. Emmett came lumbering in from the kitchen just then, with Rosalie in tow.

"What's going on here?"

"Edward is giving Bella a CHARM! Pure diamond and everything!"

I shot Alice a warning glance.

_What? It was from your drawer! It's a big deal..._

I nodded slightly. "This really is my business Alice," I reminded her.

She sighed in defeat. "I suppose it is." She mumbled.

"Thank you," I said quietly. Emmett looked at us, irritated.

"Where did you get the charm Edward?" He asked.

"Tiffany's." I lied quickly, smirking.

Rosalie looked at me suspiciously. "You know... she really hates when you buy her jewl-"

"Rosalie. I believe this is my business. Besides, how would you really know what she likes?" I quipped. She looked at the floor once more, pursing her perfectly shaped lips. Emmett took her hand, and gave me a very non Emmett-like glare.

By this time, the whole family had filed in. Carlisle was standing the farthest back.

"What's going on?" He asked. Obviously, he was talking about our raised voices.

Alice looked as if she were ready to burst. "Edward's giving Bella a charm!" She very nearly squealed.

_THE charm? Edward?_

"Yes." I said solemnly. Carlisle obviously knew about the charm. There wasn't much I didn't fill Carlisle in on.

"The charm?" Jasper asked quietly. "What charm?"

I sighed heavily, and after throwing Alice a dirty glance, I quickly explained the story, unable to leave out any details. No matter how private this memory was, I had to do it justice. I had the strangest feeling, like I wanted to make my mother's memory live on. As I neared the end of the story, I made sure to tell them all about how my father had given the charm to my mother the first time her realized he loved her. Somehow I'd managed to  
entice everyone, and when I finished they were all silent.

Esme was the first to speak. She sounded as if she were holding something more in, a squeal of excitement, perhaps.

"Well, I think that it just absolutely lovely Edward." She told me. Carlisle nodded once, and walked off. Somehow, I think he had already known.

My siblings just stared at me with different expressions. Alice looking as if she might burst, Jasper watching me carefully, Rosalie looking at me, eyes wide in disbelief, and Emmett smiling widely.

Was this the only reaction they had? Did they not understand? Bella had been a part of the family from the first time I knew I loved her. Giving her this was something big. Something that showed her belonging here. A symbol. Even if all it represented to her was my cold, still heart, at least she'd recognize that much. That it belonged to her then, it belongs to her now, and it will always belong to her, no matter what. Smiling momentarily while I saw her face in my mind, her hesitation as she contemplated whether hand-me-downs were acceptable gifts or not...

"You really love her don't you?" I heard a voice ask, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I looked up to see Rosalie, the only one left, looking at me intently.

"Yes," I told her simply, "far too much." I looked at her matching topaz eyes, and watched as they grew softer.

"You can never love someone too much. You can need them too much; you can depend on them too much... but never love them too much." She told me confidently, and then walked away briskly. I watched her curiously, scanning her thoughts to try and comprehend the root of her words.

Nothing.

I sighed, and then made my way back to Bella's, running at full speed. All the better to see her angelic face.


End file.
